Despite multiple challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghanaians' craze for the Chinese language continues, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana Chu Beijuan said Saturday.
During a Chinese proficiency competition named "Chinese Bridge", Chu said the Ghanaian college students' active participation in the competition is a testament to the trend.
"Ten students out of dozens stood out in the final competition, including some non-Chinese majors, and their language proficiency and understanding of Chinese culture have amazed all judges," Chu said.
Michael Oduro, who was the champion of the competition, said his language-learning journey was not easy as a college student, and it has become even more difficult during the pandemic.
"At the beginning, I found the Chinese characters were so hard to learn, so at a point of time, I wanted to drop the Chinese. But through the motivation and encouragement from my teachers, I had a chance to move on," he said.
"Because of the pandemic, my school made a policy that only allows us to have classes online, and this makes teaching and learning more difficult for some of us, but we were able to go through it," Oduro added.
Chu said that during the pandemic, the institute not only gave lectures to university students online but also rolled out a series of online courses for the public to cater to their increasing needs for learning the language.
"We are excited to see the Chinese language is gaining more popularity here," Chu said.
